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Creative Casey's Blog

Monday, January 6, 2014

Alcohol Ink Adventure

I've been wanting to experiment with Adirondack Alcohol Ink paints. Well, I guess you would call them paints. Their a bit like watercolor but very vibrant. My friend had some and very generously let me borrow them to have fun and play with.

I first tried making a small image with an ink pen then used the Alcohol Ink like paint. That wasn't quite working how I wanted so then I tried using them like watercolor adding water to them. That sort of gave me an interesting effect and allowed the colors to bleed more. Below is the imagine from that experimentation.

Next I took another small piece of glossy semi-thick paper and proceeded to put droplets directing on the paper. I then quickly used a straw to blow around the ink. This was pretty neat but the alcohol ink dries very quickly. I then took an ink pen and looked for images within the paints. I created funky flowers and a rhinoceros head. Can you see it?

Then I used a large piece of the glossy paper and experimented using the alcohol ink like paints again. This worked out mediocre but was fun playing around.

My final piece was attempting to use the alcohol ink on a canvas. I had picked up a 12x24 piece of canvas at Michaels on sale with the intention of using it for the Global Art Peace project. However; when I looked into the cost of shipping a piece of art that size internationally I quickly decided that I would need to think of something different for that project. I then decided to try and create something to put in the staff/faculty art show typically held in February/March each year at my place of work.

I started out by taking regular rubbing alcohol and pouring it all over the canvas. Then I quickly squirted the alcohol ink all over, followed by tilting the canvas in different directions. This was very messy so I would advise a lot of newspaper be put underneath. This created more of a watercolor effect and decreased the brilliancy of the paint colors. (*Hint- Be aware alcohol ink stains so be careful where it hits.) I waited for the canvas to dry and then poured some alcohol ink drops directly on the canvas. Once that dried I used the alcohol ink by putting drops on and using a straw to blow the ink all over the canvas. These two techniques created more vibrant colors on the canvas.

I then used a permanent marker to create a wacky fun city landscape across the canvas. I added some flowers and some other fun designs. Included were some positive words. I modeled this piece after artist Jodi Ohl. You can check out her blog and link to her esty shop at the following address: http://sweetrepeats.blogspot.com/. I've been a fan of her whimsical style for a while now. Another artist I like to follow (and who've I've attend a workshop of) is Lani "Puppetmaker"at http://lanipuppetmaker.blogspot.com/.

Overall this piece came out okay. I think I feel comfortable enough to put it in the upcoming art show. It's a fun piece and I had a good time using new materials and trying a new artistic style. In the future I think I would have perhaps spent some time researching the medium and other ways people have used them to try for different effects.